Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Why Are Public Employees Unionized?

Just some simple questions today. What are the historic benefits of unions? Historically speaking, unions helped to create an atmosphere where workers were not taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers. They helped to make sure workers received a decent wage for their work, protected them from on-the-job dangers, worked to help them gain better benefits and ensured their families were taken care of in case of death, disability or illness.

But why for public employees like teachers, firefighters, police, government employees and such? If those unions are not happy with their pay, are they not striking on you and me, the taxpayers...including themselves, for that matter? If they demand higher pay, are they not asking you and me to dole out more in tax dollars? If their union negotiates some cushy retirement plan for them, are WE not the ones they asking to pay for it? And not just us, they are asking themselves to pay for it. Afterall, they pay taxes too.

No, the nearly exclusive benefit of public employees unions is to force government to raise taxes more...to force the rich to pay more so the Progressive agenda can be fulfilled. The unions who gain more power by their sheer size benefit from their own existence. Public employee unions do no one any good, except for the elite power brokers like Andy Stern of SEIU.

Unions like SEIU stifle achievement and the pursuit of excellence. Union members don't get promotions and raises based upon performance and achievement. They get them by longevity. If they just stick around long enough they will get a bigger piece of the pie, whether they are good at what they do or not. And we wonder why government bureaucracies are so utterly inefficient and wasteful.